Byfleet residents devastated as planning inspector says loss of green belt land justified
Residents in Byfleet say they are devastated after a national planning inspector signed off in principle Woking’s plans to build hundreds of homes on its green belt.
The Planning Inspectorate said Woking has the “exceptional circumstances” required to justify changes to green belt boundaries.
The bulk of the green belt land suggested for development by Woking Borough Council is in the Byfleets, with some in Mayford and Brookwood.
Woking Borough Councillor Amanda Boote (Independent, Byfleet and West Byfleet), who has been part of a long struggle to try to protect the villages’ green belt, said residents were “up in arms”.
She said: “I’ve had people call me in tears, they are devastated. They want to take it to a judicial review.
“There’ll be nothing between Byfleet and West Byfleet and the whole point of green belt is to prevent urban sprawl. Where is all the wildlife going to go?”
She took a petition to protect Woking’s green belt to Parliament in 2019. Another, signed by more than 2,760, was presented to Woking Borough Council at the end of 2020 but the petitioner was told it was too late to change the Site Allocations Development Plan Document (DPD).
This document allocates land in the borough for a range of uses, to deliver the council’s vision set out in its core strategy.
After several years in the making, it was submitted to the planning inspector last July and has now, with some modifications, been pronounced “sound and legally compliant”.
The inspector’s report and modifications will be considered and presented to full council for adoption later this year.
Cllr Boote said: “We’ve done all we can to fight it but now it just feels like a foregone conclusion.”
The fields surrounding West Hall at West Byfleet have been allocated to build 555 homes and 15 Traveller pitches. T
The inspector said these would not contribute to the required housing figures during the plan period however, as it could take nearly five years to get planning consent and deliver the infrastructure, and then around 60 dwellings would be delivered per year.
And at Broadoaks, also in West Byfleet, the borough council has already granted planning permission and the site is being prepared for a net addition of 177 homes, as well as 75 units of assisted living accommodation and an 80-bed care home.
Cllr Boote said: “I’m worried about the lack of infrastructure to support this. Madeira medical centre already has 30,000 registered patients and people are telling me they can’t get an appointment for three weeks.
“The A245 is already gridlocked, even the sewage system is antiquated. We’re at creaking point already so if we add another 1,000 people into the mix.”
The inspector was positive about the borough council’s ability to deliver the necessary number of homes stated in its core strategy, which would see 4,964 homes built between 2010-2027.
But he added the problem lies in in the nature of housing being built.
Town centre locations – including those where housing will be enabled by major road improvements around Victoria Arch – are “likely only to be suitable for high density flatted developments”, in other words not for the three and four-bed family homes that are needed.
Woking’s core strategy indicates a density for green belt housing much lower than for the town centre, of 30 to 50 dwellings per hectare, which makes it much more suited to houses rather than blocks of flats.
The inspector said: “The green belt is identified as a potential future direction of growth to meet housing need, in particular, the need for family homes.”
The DPD makes clear that “at least” 550 units should be delivered on green belt sites.
The inspector said the loss of some green belt may be justified in order to provide the right mix of housing.
He is satisfied that by “prioritising and intensifying uses in the town centre and other urban areas”, the council’s vision “makes as much use as possible of suitable brownfield sites and underutilised land and optimises the density of development”.
He also notes the borough council has fulfilled its duty to discuss need with neighbouring councils, and “indeed needs have been accommodated as far as reasonable and practicable in Waverley and Guildford’s local plans”.
As a result he said the “exceptional circumstances” required to justify its proposed changes to its green belt boundary did exist.
But Cllr Boote argued there is more brownfield land the council could consider.
She said: “Now we’re seeing a change in working patterns and less office work and I think it is set to continue, I think there’s going to be lots of vacant office spaces – like Emerald House in West Byfleet, arguably we should be looking at sites like that for dwellings not taking our precious green belt, we’ve practically got none left.
“Where do people go for their health and wellbeing? In lockdown there was hardly anywhere to walk. Mill Lane was noticeably crowded.”
Councillor Gary Elson (Conservative, Pyrford), the borough council’s portfolio holder for planning policy, said: “After a long and complex process, we are extremely pleased that the planning inspector has found our Site Allocations DPD ‘sound and legally compliant’, subject to a number of modifications.
“This is a significant step towards the adoption of the DPD, which will provide a positive framework for the future sustainable development of the borough until 2027 and safeguards land to meet future development needs between 2027 and 2040.
“During the process we received thousands of representations from local residents, businesses and key stakeholders. Throughout we have taken great care to listen and respond to concerns and, where justified, we have adapted our proposals.”
Any of the proposed developments do still require planning consent to be progressed.
How many homes will be built on Woking’s green belt and where:
Fields surrounding West Hall, Parvis Road, West Byfleet – 555 dwellings and 15 Traveller pitches (2026-2027)
Broadoaks, Parvis Road, West Byfleet – 268 dwellings (2022-2023)
Land south of Brookwood Lye Road, Brookwood (partly previously developed including derelict glasshouses) – 93 dwellings (2023-2024)
Five Acres, Brookwood Lye Road, Brookwood – six Traveller pitches (in addition to 13 existing) and one Traveller transit site (2022-2027)
Nursery land next to Egley Road, Mayford (where secondary school opened in 2018) – 118 dwellings (2024-2025)
The land below will be released from green belt if this is justified in the future, beyond 2027:
Paddock to the south of Rectory Lane, Byfleet – 135 dwellings
Field south of Parvis Road and High Road, Byfleet – 85 dwellings
Woking Garden Centre, Egley Road, Mayford, Woking – 50 dwellings